What is Karma? Spring... (unfinished?)

What is Karma? In Buddhism, life is a repetition of death and reincarnation. During this cycle of death and rebirth the only thing that remains after one life and the other is Karma. Karma is the cause and effect of all actions done in life. If a deed, good or bad, is done at a point in life, the deed will return to the person in the future or the next life. Thus Karma makes life like throwing objects in the air, whatever you threw in the past, it will come back and hit you later in the future.

The little monk in the movie tortures weak creatures for his own pleasure. At this point, the ball full of bad deed is thrown in the air. Later in the movie the big monk punishes the kid cruelly, the same way the little monk tortured the creatures. Now this is very similar to Karma. At the time the little monk’s action was in progress, only observation is made by the big monk. The kid is not stopped nor scolded; the big monk just stands as an invisible man. However similar to the cause and effect of Karma, the bad deed returns to the kid in the future as punishment for the kid to suffer all pain endured by the creatures. Thus the movie could be viewed to illustrate Karma in a small scale.

Now, as a toddler, I was also a young mischief full of curiosity. I would catch little insects such as grass hoppers or butterflies and torture them for my pleasure as well. Well torture it is, viewed from myself today, but when I was at that age, it was just a fun game where the consequences were not fully understood.

Now for these actions when I was a kid, will I be punished later in life due to the cause and effect of Karma? And should I be? So… What is Karma?